


Costly Magic

by wittyno



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Descriptions of Surgery, Explosions, F/M, I'll add tags as I write, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Doctor Strange (2016), References to Depression, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie) Spoilers, a touch of kidnapping, heartrender powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:21:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26802097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wittyno/pseuds/wittyno
Summary: "What had Peter said? Bleecker Street. A wizard  might be her last hope."Post-Endgame, starts right with the beginning of Far From Home.Note: Dr. Strange is confirmed for Spideman 3.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Stephen Strange, Stephen Strange & Original Female Character(s), Stephen Strange/Evie Parker, Stephen Strange/Original Character(s), Stephen Strange/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	1. Airports and Explosion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheAnimeNerd17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAnimeNerd17/gifts).



> This is a gift for TheAnimeNerd17. Their story (The Tempest) inspired this one. I hope you enjoy. Comments are always welcome. Note: I updated the chapter. No story changes just grammar and the like.

“Evie, I’ll be ok.” Peter said for the tenth time.

“I’m just... so proud of you.” Evie wiped a tear from her eye. “With everything that has happened in the last... It was a long 5 years.” Evie hugged Peter again.

“Aunt Evie…” Peter whined.

“Can’t I hug my nephew? Who is about to leave and have a great vacation, maybe even talk to the girl he likes?” He rolled his eyes. Evie had seen his handwritten plans to ask MJ out.

“You’ll figure it out. I promise.” Evie pulled Peter into another big hug.

“Thanks, Evie. Remember weird happens, go see the wizard on Bleecker…” Evie cut him off.

“Yes, yes, yes. Now go be a normal teenager for a while.” She pushed him towards the airport’s door. Evie waved until she couldn’t see Peter anymore. Then she took a deep breath and started walking back to the train station. In her heart of hearts she knew this trip was going to be good for Peter. She had encouraged him to go, even paid for the trip. It was still hard to let him go. The seats in the subway car looked wet, so Evie stood. Letting the carriage jostle her this way and that.

She kept seeing baby Peter standing up for the first time. He had been so excited about his accomplishment that he had promptly fallen over. Those days had been hard. Dick and Mary had just died. Between her and May, they made just enough money to keep a leaking roof over their heads. Life had gotten easier when May met Benji, but then they’d lost him too.

The other passengers jostled Evie by shoving past her to get out of the subway station.

Evie jerked up and joined the throng of people streaming out onto the sidewalk. The New York air enveloped her with all its sticky sounds and smells. She breathed it in.

As Evie reached the steps of her apartment the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She turned around, but there was no one there, so she brushed it off. When Evie turned the key, she heard an unfamiliar metallic click, and the world exploded.

The blast pulled the air from her lungs. Evie couldn’t hear anything but the sound of her heartbeat trying to break through her chest. She sat up. She didn’t remember being thrown to the ground. Her apartment building was now a burning husk. The stench of melting plastic singed the inside of her nose. All at once sound returned to her world. Evie could hear ambulance sirens in the distance. Evie’s mind was going at a million miles down a country lane. She wouldn’t go back to that hospital.

May’s house was out of the question. She didn’t want the bomber to target May. Thank God Peter was on his way to Europe. What had Peter said? Bleecker Street. A magician might be her last hope. Oh great.

The sound of jackhammers punctuated every waking moment of Stephen Strange’s life. Across the way from the New York Sanctum, some big corporation was building a movie theater.

However, the noise outside was quiet compared to the maelstrom in his head… Stephen knew he had made the right choice, letting Tony sacrifice himself for the universe. Then why didn’t it sit right in his stomach?

Maybe there had been no other way, or maybe Stephen just lacked imagination.

He let cover slam on his latest find, courtesy of the Ancient One’s library. Stephen had made it his habit to study every book in the ancient... his library.

Most of the Avengers had scattered amongst the stars. Peter was still in the City though. Despite himself, Stephen liked the kid. Peter had just waltz in one day asking questions about bullet wounds, and Stephen hadn’t had the heart to stop him. So now Peter came around once in a while.

Wong pulled Stephen out of his thoughts by tapping him on the shoulder. There was worry etched into Wong’s features.

“Strange, someone is pounding at our door.” The ripple in Wong’s even tone made Stephen nervous.

He stood up from his desk, the cloak of levitation coming to rest on his shoulders. He hadn’t noticed the banging before, because jackhammers had drowned them out. But there it was, the frantic hammering of fists against the doors of the Sanctum. He reached the door and with one readying nod to Wong, Stephen swung open the doors.

A woman fell over the doorstep. Stephen caught her just before she hit the floor. He stood her upright, and she threatened to collapse again. He guided her to a nearby bench. She looked in rough shape. Multiple cuts and abrasions covered her body and a Film of white powder. She took two nervous breaths, each punctuated with a pained expression. The woman’s brown hair had bits of what looked like plaster in it.

“Are you the wizards? Peter said you could protect me.” Evie looked around at them. The wizards looked as if they didn’t like being called wizards. The hammering had robbed Evie of what she had left of her strength. She could feel the darkness closing in around her. If she blacked out again, there was nothing stopping the wizards from just kicking her out.

“Who are you?” The taller of the two had said that. Evie looked him straight in the face. He had a look of General disapproval mixed with genuine concern. The concern came from his blue eyes, which were kind.

“Evie Parker.” Seeing their confusion, she added, “I’m Peter’s aunt… His other aunt.”

“What happened to you?” Strange asked. At least she assumed it was Strange. The way Peter described the wizard in what felt like a daily retelling of his space adventure. Peter admired the man. A doctor turned wizard. Part of Evie wished that she had known that wizarding was an option after she quit medicine. She had known of Doctor Stephen Strange. They had both worked in the same New York City hospital. His reputation proceeded him; arrogant, capable, smart, entitled…

“They blew up my apartment.”

“Who?”

“If I knew that I’d go to the police, not...” Evie gestured at them, “David Blaine’s opening act”. Evie knew she shouldn’t be snarky with the men whose door she had just hammered down, but it just kind of came out.

“If you don’t want my help.”

“Let us get you some tea.” The shorter of the two men left. She opened her mouth to talk. But before she could start strange cut her off.

“Let’s wait for the tea.” His tone was disinterested. As if she had just come over for a cup of tea.

“You don’t know what I’m going to say”. It came out more annoyed than she meant it.

“I know it will be better after tea”. Evie was about to retort, but Wong reappeared with a tea set in hand. Wong poured Evie a cup of the delicious smelling tea, which she accepted. It took everything in her to stop herself from sniffing the tea first.

“Thank you,”. She took a deep breath, and the story flew out of her mouth like gunfire. “I just dropped Peter off at the airport. He’s going to Europe for science class. I was on my way to my apartment to pick up some papers before going to work and... I put the key in the front door, and everything went boom. When I came to the entire building was burning... I got scared. Peter had told me ‘if something seems wrong, go see the wizards on Bleecker Street.’” While Wong didn’t seem to mind the term wizard. Evie saw that Stephen was still perturbed by being called a wizard.

“I’m going to need to do an exam.”

“I feel fine.”

“Let me be the judge of that.” Evie suppressed an eye roll. She didn’t need an exam. She knew what was wrong with her. Three broken ribs, multiple cuts and lacerations… Fuck, she had done it again, she thought. They drove injury cataloging into surgeon’s heads so deep that even after all these years it was still there. Strange would just tell her to go to the hospital. Maybe even use of the sparkly portals that Peter went on and on about. She would not go back. She could fix this herself. It had been years, but she wasn’t in that rough a shape.

Evie didn’t catch how he did it but then there was a penlight in the Stephen’s hand.

“Open your eyes.” He asked. His tone polite, but detached. She complied, and he checked eyes. A stethoscope appeared out of nowhere and he stuck the cold metal under her dirty shirt and said, “deep breath in”. As she did, she felt his hand shaking on her back. She stopped mid breath, unsure of what to do, but remembered that Peter had trusted this man with his life and just kept breathing. Every part of her breath hurt, “cracked ribs” she thought he moved, the cold metal all across her back. Whenever his fingertips brushed her back, a warm feeling spread through her.

“I am going to need you to lay back.”

“Doc, I feel…” he cut her off.

“I need to see if you aren’t just fooling yourself.”

“Excuse me?” He didn’t know who she was... or who she had been. Evie wanted to throw it in his face, but that would mean opening a can of Worms.

“Just lay back and let me examine you.”

“Fine.”

“Lift your shirt.” she complied, lifting the torn red blouse to just under her bra. His fingers were cool to the touch. The ORIF scars on his fingers scraping across her stomach, leaving gooseflesh in their wake. She looked up to say something, but it died in her throat. His face set in a mask of concentration. This was a routine exam. Nothing he hadn’t done thousands of times before. She could see the gears turning in his head. It hit her like a ton of bricks, He wasn’t concentrating on the exam. He was concentrating on his hands. Trying with all his might to keep them steady. She wanted to say something, but it all felt condescending. She doubted that he wanted pity. The brilliant doctor Stephen strange brought low by a routine exam. The man who defended the universe against monsters like Thanos, unable to do something they taught on the first day of med school. Minutes passed, and he kept working, checking and rechecking his work. She said nothing, her muscles relaxing into his touch. She studied his features. Cheekbones that could cut diamond, glass blue eyes, the streaks of grey at his temples. It all came together to create a handsome face, arrogant but... there was no use in denying that she found him he was good-looking. There was an earnestness in his eyes which caught her off guard. He wanted to help. She had just closed her eyes when Pain ripped through her chest and shot out of her mouth as a scream. She sat up and her chest felt as if it was on fire. Unable to stand it, she sank back down onto the couch.

“Three broken ribs. You’re lucky, Ms. Parker.” Evie grimaced.

“Not from where I’m sitting.”

“You’re alive.”

“A one out of 14,000,605 chance”. His lip quirked, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. She made another attempt to get up but, but he pushed her back into the couch.

“That’s not a good idea”. he said to her. Again, she found herself surprised at how genuine he sounded. It felt like that he cared for her well-being. Then he said to no one in particular, “the second Spider-Man is out of the country, someone blows up his aunt’s apartment”. Evie couldn’t let Strange tell Peter what happened. Peter deserved a break. He deserved to tell MJ how he felt at the top of the Eiffel Tower. He deserved to be a normal kid for once.

“You can’t tell him. He’ll want to come home. With everything that has happened... I just want him to have a great vacation.”

“Interesting.” He said in his dismissive test. It made Evie want to throw something at his head. How could he go from a good guy to an asshole in a single breath?


	2. Inherited Superhero Complex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters? In one day? Yes. It's not that I am organized. I just don't like the number thirteen. I hope I have captured our good doctor's character well. It's not been easy. Please do enjoy. Update: I fixed some grammar.

Stephen Strange had been trying to read the next page in his new book for about five minutes. His brain would not focus. There was a deep well of guilt in his stomach and it kept filling up. The death of Kaecilius and his followers, Tony, and the latest addition: the examination of Evie Parker. She wasn’t interesting to look at, Plain Jane meets Girl-Next-Door. There was something in her eyes. Evie Parker had backbone. She had hauled herself to their doorstep and spent what must have been at least half an hour hammering at their door, all with three broken ribs. It wasn’t Evie Parker; it was his exam. It should have taken him five minutes. Today it had taken him almost three times that.

He had done his utmost to stop the shaking, but it was still there. However hard he had tried; the tremor was constant. He was grateful that Evie hadn’t said or done anything. Most patients would have walked out after minute six, but she just lay there. Stephen had caught Evie looking at him. He had expected to see disgust or worse pity in her eyes, but all he had seen was interest. Like he was a difficult graph in a textbook.

Part of him held onto hope that his hands would get better with time. That the nerves would knit themselves back together and he could hold steady. Maybe, one day, go back into an OR. Stephen had chastised himself for keeping his penlight and stethoscope in his robes, but... They were a part of him. Examining Evie Parker was something even a strung-out nurse could do. It was a miracle she had survived the explosion. How had she survived? It seemed too good to be true. Something about the situation nagged at him. He was going to get her to stay so he could keep a close eye on her. Which made the guilt that now churned in his stomach even worse. The universe had given him a second chance. A way to help people. He had risen to be Sorcerer Supreme and yet even a basic exam left him...

When Evie awoke next, the moon had replaced the sun in the night sky. She sat up and got her first proper look at her surroundings. It was a small and simple room. Just a bed and a dresser made of rough wood. She got up and stretched. The room spun. She grabbed ahold of the headboard to steady herself. She felt the bile rising in her throat, but she forced it down. On the dresser was a bundle of cloth and a note. In chicken scratch, it said “bathroom is the door on the left” Evie picked up the bundle and unrolled it. It was a robe, but she couldn’t tell where the top of the arms would go, but it was a step up from her current outfit all torn and covered in soot and ash.

She walked into the bathroom. It was the same as the bedroom: small, clean, and simple. She stepped into the shower and when she turned the handle scalding water came out. No waiting time, just scalding water. Evie wondered how that was possible, but soon her thoughts washed away by the scalding water. She hadn’t realized how numb she felt until the water washed some feeling back into her muscles. Evie looked down the grime was draining off her body to reveal black and blue bruises were blooming all across her skin. Once she felt at least like a rough sketch of her former self she got out of the shower and found an already warm towel hanging on a rack over the toilet. How in the world? She would have to ask.

Once she was dry, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her face wasn’t half as bad as the rest of her body. Her cheek bruised and there was a cut across her forehead. Nothing she couldn’t cover up with makeup before going to work.

“Shit work...”. She ran back to her tattered clothes and her phone was still in her front pocket and intact.

She opened it to find an assault of messages. Peter had gotten to Europe in one piece. May was another story. She had 50 calls from her in the last couple of hours. Part of Evie wanted to just turn off her phone and not respond, but that wouldn’t solve the problem. So, she called May.

“Evie, is that you?” She sounded like she had been crying.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Oh, thank God. The explosion at your apartment. They didn’t find a body, but…” Evie jumped right into May’s word train.

“Look May I’m fine.”

“Where are you? I can come and pick you up. You can live with me till you’re back on your feet.” May is sweet, but under no circumstances was she going to go back and live with her sister again. They had done it when Peter was a baby and both of them were still in school. But now to live there without Peter and have to hear May prattling on about her charity work and Happy. She had understood Benji, she did not understand May’s interest in Happy. She didn’t want May and Peter to see her like this. All covered in bruises. Both of them would want to do something about it. Investigate it. She just wanted her life back.

“Evie, are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here, sorry.”

“I am so glad you’re ok. I should tell you…” Warning bells went off in Evie’s head. Hesitant May was never a good sign. “the school called. They assumed that you were in the hospital and couldn’t call, so they gave you a three-month sabbatical without question.” Evie’s veins filled with ice. Three months of nothing. Three long months where she could just sit and ruminate on how her life had just blown up.

“What the fuck?”

“I told them you wouldn’t want that, but they said that they wanted you to have all the time you needed.” May said, trying to soothe Evie. Anger welled up in Evie’s chest.

“And cover their ass if I collapse on campus.” She could see the higher ups talking to the board and all saying that she wouldn’t be “well enough.” No job for three months. At least it was summer. All she would miss were the two remedial summer courses she taught. Three months of free time... what was she going to do with all that time?

“I don’t doubt that was part of the calculation.” May let Evie stew for a bit, then she tried to oh-so-casually ask, “where are you staying then?”

“Uh…” Evie decided it was better not to lie “at one of Peter’s superhero friend’s houses.”

“Ok... who?”

“The wizard.”

“You have fun. Let me know if you need anything”. Just like that, May hung up. Unlike Evie, May had taken an interest in all things Avengers. May had taken Peter’s secret identity in stride. Evie… not so much. May wasn’t putting on tights, but she had researched every member of Peter’s new “crew” as she called it. Not that they both weren’t proud of Peter, but Evie had always been more cautious than May. May had always been the fun aunt. May wanted Peter to experience all parts of being a teenage boy. Evie made sure Peter knew all his phone numbers by heart, could always identify where the nearest hospital or police station was, and given him enough first aid training that he could have been an EMT. Evie said she did it because she had seen enough children on her operating table. Sure, that was part of it. Spend enough time as a neonatal surgeon and everything looks like a hazard, but late at night after a glass of wine she could admit to herself it was because…

Her stomach interrupted Evie’s train of thought, growling for attention. Food, she needed food. But first clothes.

She looked at the tan pile on the bathroom counter. How hard could this be? She lifted the robe up and a pair of pants and a white camisole fell out. Perfect, Evie dressed and decided to not look in the mirror again. The sight wasn’t pretty. It took about ten minutes of wandering around, but she found the kitchen. Evie searched through the cabinets and somehow found all she needed.

Evie had just started slicing the bread when out of nowhere a voice said, “What’s for dinner?” She suppressed a scared scream and almost puked out her heart in shock. But it was only Stephen Strange. He looked… strange. He had opted for black jeans, a dark grey t-shirt, and weirdest of all a cardigan. It didn’t look bad, on the contrary, he looked great, relaxed.

When Evie had half-way recovered, she said, “Someone should put a bell on you”.

“They can try”. Evie rolled her eyes, “arrogant ass” she murmured as she uncorked the marshmallow fluff and spread a hefty amount on one slice.

“It’s not arrogant, if it’s true” he said matter-of-factly. There was no ego in his voice. Stephen Strange wasn’t showing off, and it annoyed Evie. She knew he could. While never having had the misfortune to work with him herself. The stories of him swooping in to save the day, all while making everyone around him feel small and dumb, were a dime a dozen. She wanted to switch the subject, but she was only human.

“You know Peter prattles on for hours about your ‘space adventure’ and somehow it never came up how much of an ass you are.” Evie had excepted outrage, but Strange got quiet.

“What has he told you?” he asked in that same disinterested tone.

“That some of Thanos’ guys came to steal ‘a necklace from a wizard’.’’ She saw his face contort like the last time she had called him a wizard.

“Why do you hate being called a wizard?”

“I’m Sorcerer Supreme, it’s like calling a surgeon a nurse”. She cocked an eyebrow at him. He had the decency to change the subject, and she let him. “What monstrosity are you making?” he asked. Evie spread strawberry jelly on the other slice and placed the two slices on top of each other.

“I used to make it for Peter. After Dick and Mary died. It was the only thing he would eat. They had them at the funeral and I think in Peter’s four-year-old brain just used fused the two.”

“You just took care of him?” Strange asked.

“May and I. We’re the only Family he had.”

“What about foster care?” Anger welled up inside her chest and she was about to fire back at him, but the look in his eyes calmed the storm in her chest. There was no malice in his features. He was asking an honest question.

“We thought about it. Both of us were still in school, only making ends meet, but we just couldn’t leave him with strangers. It was hard and a lot, but we made it. Then he goes, gets bitten by a radioactive spider. Not only does it give him superpowers, he then uses those powers to fight crime. A fourteen-year-old kid in a hoodie goes out at night to fight crime.” Evie looked down and ran her hands through her hair and in a softer tone she said, “He just had to inherit Dick’s superhero complex.”

She looked back at Strange. He was just looking at her with interest. “Then Stark recruits him and he ends up in space.” A note of pride snuck in at the end. Her nephew had been to space. “I guess I have you to thank for bringing him back”.

“Yes.” Evie picked up the sandwich and as she walked past him, a strange impulse struck her. She leaned up, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, whispered “thank you” and walked away.


	3. Wrapped Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange will be in the 3rd Spiderman movie - https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cinemablend.com/news/2556437/spider-man-3-will-feature-the-return-of-a-favorite-marvel-hero
> 
> I knew it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am having a crappy day and next week is going to be really crappy for me. Chances are there won't be a chapter next week. I thought you guys should have this chapter early. It's longer than my other two combined (I think). It was going to be two chapters, but I felt bad making people wait three weeks. This week I worked on improving my portrayal of emotions. I am very much a dialog first, emotions second gal. Hopefully that improvement comes across. 
> 
> Any and all comments are welcome.

Stephen Strange was wearing grooves into his bedroom’s floorboards. He paced the same seven steps. The kiss played over and over in his mind. A quick brush of the lips. It was chaste, so why did it fill his belly with a light warmth. 

Then out of nowhere his brain caught up with itself. Evie said that Stephen brought Peter back to her. She was part of the fifty percent endured those five years. Five years without her family. Peter must have forgotten to mention that Stephen helped Thanos put his plan in motion. He’d seen the future and helped Thanos kill Evie’s family.

The warm feeling in his stomach was at once overtaken by a... it wasn’t guilt. Stephen done the right thing. Thanos’ death was the only way to keep the earth safe. He doubted Evie would see it that way.

The accounts of what the world was in those five years were stories of pain and despair. Someone would one day tell Evie the truth. He was lying to her. A lie of omission, but a lie none the less. He doubted that she’d want to stay here if she found out what he’d done. Dread was seeping into bones. He just hoped he was far away when she did. 

The next morning Stephen found Evie in his study. He loved his study. When Stephen became Sorcerer Supreme, he’d inherited the Ancient One’s study. When the Ancient One was Sorcerer Supreme, this room was a meditation space; bare, but for a mat on the floor, not even a window. 

Stephen tried to leave it the same, but the paperwork needed to go somewhere. Now, mahogany bookshelves lined half the walls, filled with a mixture of magical and medical texts. A large window looked out onto the busy New York street. A mahogany desk with lots of drawers stood against one wall, with a cushy chair. His medical degrees hung on the wall and the now-empty eye of Agamotto. There was even a conference table.

It was empty but for a small plant Wong bought to “bring life into the place”. Today, his conference table covered in papers, colored pens, notebooks, and textbooks, with Evie staring at and murmuring to herself. She found new clothes. She wore a plain dark green T-shirt, fitted blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. He saw the outline of the bandage he’d given her for her ribs. A small, but insistent, part of him wanted to ask her if he could examine the bandage. There was no medical reason to, but the idea of running his fingers over her soft warm skin again had taken root in his brain. She looked comfortable and yet out of place. He told himself it was just that he wasn’t used to have someone else use his office. 

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“Lesson planning” she replied, paying him little mind. 

Stephen lifted the book nearest to him; Biology In Focus. He looked closer at the table. The books were all textbooks, with names such as Advanced Chemistry, Human Biology, Principles of Chemistry, and Human Anatomy.

“You’re a teacher” he said in a snide tone. But Evie didn’t hear him because without looking up, she said.

“Biology and chemistry. I teach at Peter’s school. It gives us a discount on his tuition”. Stephen looked at her notes. Evie’s cramped handwriting littered most of the pages on the table. Notes in the margins of textbooks, as if she wanted to squeeze every drop of ink out of her pens.

Stephen turned to his desk and started working. His plan had been only to work for a couple of hours, but Evie showed no sign of stopping. She was so engrossed in what she was doing. It reminded him of his intern days. One night he’d done the charts for the entire surgical wing, because he bet Christine he could diagnose more patients in the clinic than her. He’d have won, but they’d called him to observe his first surgery in the OR. 

Her focus never wavered. A pen between her teeth and an intensity in her eyes. It was as if she was preforming surgery. Her patient, an ever-growing stack of papers. She worked her way through color coding and taking notes as she went. Peter and Evie’s family resemblance was unmistakable; the same nose, ears, wavy brown hair, but Evie’s jawline was rounder and her eyes were green instead of brown.

The more he looked at her, the more he liked what he was seeing. Over the course of the day hair had been escaping her ponytail, but she’d paid it no mind. She tucked the strands behind her ear, only for them to come loose again. Every time he looked up at her, he sensed a low urge to be the one to tuck those pesky strands behind her ears. The setting sun lit the entire room aflame with its blood red light. The light made her look.... Evie intrude on his train of thought by looking up and catching him looking at her. She said nothing, but asked, “how does the cloak work? It defies the laws of physics”. Evie got up and walked towards him and rounded his desk to stand next to him. Evie stood close, and he could smell her soap. It was the same anti-bacterial that he had used when he was a surgeon. Before he could think more about it Evie was touching him. Her hand was warm and delicate. As if she was a sculptor, not a teacher. She placed one hand on his shoulder. At her touch, the tension that built up in his shoulders rushed out of him. With Evie’s other hand, she touched the Cloak. Who seemed to enjoy the touch almost as much as Stephen. 

“It feels alive” she whispered as if she didn’t want the Cloak to overhear. Probably realizing her stupidity, she continued in her normal voice. “Peter said it was bulletproof and has its own...” before Evie finished the sentence, the Cloak detached from Strange’s shoulders and wrapped around her. He loved the way she looked in his cloak. It enveloped her. She looked tiny in his big cloak. It was as if he was wrapping himself around her. She twirled in it, the Cloak creating a read fan around her. 

The Cloak started lifting off the ground. Evie was only five inches in the air when she freaked out. 

“Oh God, what the hell is happening? I don’t like this.” Her tone was nervous.

“You’re barely off the floor.” He said. His tone dismissive. 

“Horrible things happen when people fly,”. fear crammed into Evie’s voice.

“The name The Cloak of Levitation gives it away.” He regretted his words as he saw fear bubble up in her eyes. As if Evie was seven miles above the earth and the Cloak was going to drop her to her death. 

The Cloak sensing that this wasn’t just first-flight jitters set her back on her feet but she couldn’t hold herself up and collapsed. Strange caught her right before she hit the ground. As he held her, her body shook as sob after sob ripped through her. He set her lowered her on the hardwood floor and propped her up against one of his bookshelves. 

“That’s twice in twenty-four hours I caught you”. He said, trying to lighten the mood. She ignored him. Stephen heard her breath rattling in her lungs. She was holding onto her midsection. Her face was filling up with misery. Grief replacing fear. 

Not knowing what to do, he settled next to her. Christine once told him that people in distress enjoyed physical touch. He wanted to put his arm around her, but it he thought it an imposition. Like he was demanding she let him comfort her. He took her shaking hand in his. In horror, he realized she was touching his ORIF scars. He pulled away. “Why burden her with his hands?” He thought. She refused to let go, gripped his hands tight. He thought she’d rip her hand away in disgusted, but she gripped his hand tight, steadying his own ever present tremor. After a few minutes he her hand steady, giving him a brief squeeze. He looked at her. Evie’s forest green eyes the rimmed with red, but there was a small smile playing on her features.

“Thank you” she said, her voice still full of unspoken ache. “Peter said it… I guess I got too wrapped up to remember.” That drew a soft chuckle from him.

“Why do you hate flying?” He asked, he needed to understand. Evie took a deep breath and with a breaking voice, she told him. 

“My brother and his wife died in a plane crash. I keep seeing Peter’s face when we told him his parents weren’t coming home. He thought we were kidding, playing a new game.” She squeezed his hand again, to ready herself for her next words. “He must have seen the tears in our eyes…” Her other arm held her chest more, trying to stop her lungs from hurting her ribs. “He didn’t stop crying… even when his tears ran out. I wanted to help, but I only sat there and help him.”

Stephen just stayed silent. Evie was still holding his hand. He wanted to preserve that for as long as possible. Evie fell asleep soon after that. Her hand loosing her grip on his and her head lolling onto his shoulder. As if she too wanted to stay connected to him. The weight of her head was centering. The Cloak came and wrapped around her like a blanket. It seemed the Cloak had a favorite.

——

Evie Parker was thrown out of her dreams by her ringing phone. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and took in her surroundings. She was sitting on the floor of Stephen’s office. The sun was streaming through the window, blinding her. Stephen sat next to her, fast asleep, lightly snoring. His hair curled at the ends. She brushed a loose strand of hair from his forehead. He looked peaceful. All the world’s problems lifted from his shoulders. Even if it was only for a moment. She picked up the phone, dread swallowing her stomach.

“May, what’s wrong?” 

“Peter, oh my God, Evie, Peter.” The panic in May’s voice made Evie shoot up. Her nerve endings standing at attention, waiting for the inevitable. 

“Breathe May breathe. What’s going on?” Evie left the room. No need to wake Stephen. She heard May take two shaky breaths, but when she continued, her voice was stronger.

“A man attacked Peter. This guy Mysterio… Evie. He threw Peter in front of a train.” Evie’s brain went into overdrive. 

“Have you been in contact with him? Is he safe? Where is he?” 

“Happy has him,”.

“That’s not the question I asked, because the only place he should go is home.”

“His friends are there and this Mysterio guy…”

“And Peter has to be the one to do it? He’s a child. May I tell you we should have nipped this in the bud, but no you…” 

“Evelyn Katharine Parker, you listen here. If you’re implying that I somehow don’t care or love Peter as much as…”. Evie mumbled her apologies. She wasn’t sure if she meant them. May had always been the more permissive guardian. Evie knew she was strict and worried too much. But then again, Peter just been thrown in front of a moving train. 

Dazed, Evie hung up the phone. She kept trying to remind herself that there was a reason she had paid for the trip. Peter needed something to get his mind off the last six months. 

Guilt creeped into Evie’s conscience. The school had asked Evie to chaperon the trip, but Peter begged her not too. Against Evie’s better judgment, she had listened to Peter. Spending two weeks with Harrington and Dell sounded like hell. How could have she been so selfish? Peter could be dead all because she didn’t want to spend time with dumb and dumber. She would have kept him safe. Out of nowhere, an idea struck her. Evie looked back into the study, but no Strange. She ran down the hallway leading away from the office. She ran along the corridor, struggling to find him. The problem was that the layout “sanctum” was complicated. As if they thought it was funny if someone got lost. Evie found Strange in the library. Not looking up from his book, he asked, rather dismissively “what now?”

“I need you to make me a portal to London,” she gasped, holding the stitch in her side. Stephen continued to read his book, as if there was nothing wrong in the world. 

“Any chance you want to go sightseeing,” he asked, still in that same detached tone, as if Peter’s life wasn’t in danger. The anger in her chest that had been bubbling below the surface threatened to burst.

“I’m going to break every bone in Mysterio’s body.” Her voice quiet as she said it.

“I can’t let you do that.” 

“Why not?” she retorted. Stephen rolled his eyes and snapped his book closed.

“Because he has an army of drones and all you have is a plucky attitude.” She couldn’t believe it. He would not help her. 

“I’m crafty,” was all she could come up with. 

“I don’t doubt that, but I can’t have you putting your life in danger...” Why the hell would he care if Evie put her in danger? They had known each other for less than forty-eight hours. 

“Why,” she asked suspicion gliding into her voice. Stephen sighed. He didn’t want to tell Evie, but seeing the look in her eye must have convinced him otherwise.

“I went to your apartment. Evie, it wasn’t a gas leak that blew up your apartment. There was a cosmic signature. Someone or something not from our dimension was at your apartment the day it blew up.” She hadn’t expected that. His words sent a chill through her body. What had she ever done that would make her interesting to someone from another dimension? 

“So you want to keep me here as bait. They didn’t kill me then. Maybe they’ll try again.”

“Yes.” It hadn’t been a question. She had known that this would be his answer, but yet again surprised by his frank nature. 

“But you won’t help me find and save Peter?”

“No.” The finality in Stephen’s voice made Evie collapse onto the nearest armchair. She buried her head in her hands. The guilt swirling around in her stomach. 

“I shouldn’t have let him go. The last time he went on a field trip...”

Stephen’s voice softened. “The world ended.” Evie lifted her head up and a harsh laugh escaped her throat. “That’s it. It didn’t. The world didn’t end, because some of us survived.” Evie got up and walked back to her room. She knew that there was nothing she could do. There was no way she could get to London in time. Her one hope had said no. She startled herself by not blaming him. Stephen had his own agenda. Evie spent the rest of her day and most of the night pacing her room. Evie concocted a hundred schemes to get Stephen to help her. She knew none of them would work. He was too principled for bribery and too powerful for force. She was useless. At some point she stopped pacing and just stood there. An idea gripped her. She walked down the hall to what she thought was Stephen’s room and knocked. Stephen opened the door. He had been asleep. His hair tousled, his blue eyes full of sleep, and dressed in matching blue stripped pajama set. Before he could protest, she pushed passed him and sat on his floor. Bewildered into silence, he just stared at her. 

Evie stared at him. “Magic. Peter said you do magic. Let’s go. I want to see magic.”

“Evie, it’s…” she cut off his protests. 

“I can’t sleep. All I can think about it is Peter and...” Evie's voice was more desperate than she wanted, but it worked. Without another word, he sat down opposite her. 

“What has Peter told you,” he asked, observing her face for a response. 

“He told me about the portals, the whips, and how you can make about fifty clones of yourself.” Evie hadn’t believed Peter. Stephen thought about it for a moment. Then he placed a warm hand on Evie’s forehead. She closed her eyes, and he said “open your eye”. Silence set in. She wasn’t sure if this was part of the trick? Was there a waiting period? He held his hand against her forehead and repeated “open your eye”. Again, nothing happened. Evie’s skepticism slithered into her mind. Was all of this a hoax? Evie’s confusion must have shown on her face, because Stephen said.

“I am trying to push your astral form out of your physical form.” Evie felt more confused than ever. “Your astral form is your soul apart from your body.”

“You’re saying I’m soulless.” Evie didn’t know how to react to that. 

“No... I don’t know...” He stood up abruptly and started pulling books down from his shelves. Setting the books down on his bed. He picked up the top one started flipping through. Evie could make out the binding “Advanced Astral Projection”. Then he paced around her, peppering her with questions. 

“Date of birth?” 

“April 7th,” Evie decided not to argue with his questions. It was nice to have someone take an interest. Though Evie wasn’t sure he would leave her alone if she didn’t answer his questions. 

“Parents dead or…” These questions sounded like the ones she used to ask during exams. 

“Dead.” 

“Any brothers or sisters?” She rolled her eyes. Stephen damn well knew what had happened to her family. 

“As you know, one alive sister, one dead brother.” 

“How did your parents die?” 

“Car accident. You’re diagnosing me.” The annoyance in her voice didn’t match the annoyance swirling around in her stomach. This was more interesting than pacing her room and worrying about Peter. It was a pleasure to watch him work. His brows knitted in concentration. His mind whirring behind those alert glass blue eyes. His company gave her a feeling of security she hadn’t realized she missed.


	4. Snapping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a lot of POV changes, for reasons that will become clear when you read. Comments are always welcome.

Evie walked through the doors of Stephen’s office. The rest of the Sanctum was old and otherworldly. Stephen’s office was modern. It reminded her more of her old dean of surgery’s office than magical study. Sure, most of the books had titles like _The Magic of the Unforeseen_ or _Meeting the Darkness_. Without looking up from his work Stephen asked. 

“Peter’s alright?” Yes, Peter was alright. It made her feel lightheaded. She had almost lost him again. He was home, worse for wear, but alive. 

“Like you don’t already know.” He still didn’t look, but a smirk played around his lips. Evie didn’t know how he knew, probably had a scrying mirror somewhere. She plopped in one of the dark leather chairs opposite his desk. “Figured out if I’m soulless yet?” The question had become a weird annoyance. She didn’t like mysteries. Too many unanswered questions. If she put one toe out of line her entire world would collapse, again. After a moment he looked up at her, his brows furrowing. 

“No, you have a soul.” That made her smile. Until a few days ago, she hadn’t even believed in a soul, but knowing that she had hers filled her with a calming sense of normalcy. 

“I want to run more tests.” Of course he did. Ever the scientist. There was always more unknown study. Evie was just his latest anomaly. Another piece of the puzzle whose color had run. 

She leaned forward in her chair. “Got anymore magic? Maybe magic that works.” 

“The magic was sound”. Evie tried to cover up the pit his words left in her stomach with a look of careless bemusement. Stephen pushed away from his desk and stood up. He drew his hands in a long arc and bright orange light appeared. He continued to twist his hands, and the light formed itself into perfect geometric circles. A grin spread across her face, crinkling at the corner of her eyes. “That is what raw power looks like” she thought. The light refracted in his ice chip eyes. He gave her a quizzical look. Had she done something wrong? She had done nothing but look. Was that wrong? It unnerved her, like she had failed a test she didn’t know she was taking. He sat back down and leaned back in his chair.

“Why aren’t you out there looking for leads on what happened to you?” She had been waiting for him to ask. After May had “accidentally” let it slip that Evie’s apartment was now rubble, Peter had wanted to investigate right away, which was the opposite of what she wanted. Evie shrugged.

“What does it matter?” His eyes went wide. 

“Your life was just blown apart and you’re not the least bit curious?”

“What are the chances of a being with a cosmic signature…”

“Technically, we all have cosmic signatures.” Evie took a deep breath and tried to keep her anger from puncturing her calm tone. 

“A cosmic signature you, Gandalf the grey, don’t recognize.” His face crinkled in annoyance. Serves him right. 

“Doesn’t that intrigue you?” 

“No. The chances that whatever it was, was there for me are slim to none. With the amount of superheroes there are now. It was probably looking for someone else.” He let out a long sigh. No one seemed to understand that she didn’t want any part of this superhero business. It was bad enough that her nephew dressed up in a spider costume and went crime fighting. The dress up was fine. The crime fighting made her nervous. All she wanted was a quiet life. No cities falling from the sky, or alien robot armies from out of space, or even space gods. The world had gone superhero crazy. Everyone wanted to be Iron Man or Thor, but no one wanted to pick up the rubble. 

The next days were quiet. She saw Wong and Stephen only briefly. Evie wasn’t sure what wizards did during the day. Save the universe, probably.

With little to do, she started browsing the library. The library was beautiful. An old place where weather-worn shelves overstuffed with books. The thick, dark leather-bound volumes gathered decades of dust. There were few lights, so any row of aisle looked like a cobbled stone alley leading to a dark and foreboding future. Evie loved it here. Just because she was useless at magic didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy reading. Learning Sanskrit wasn’t that hard, if you had nothing better to do. 

One night as she was walking into the library looking for a book that would help her understand the ins and outs of past-tense Sanskrit. She heard a piercing scream. A loud thud sounded as she dropped the three old books she was returning. Without so much as a thought, she raced through the open library doors and followed the screams. Evie traced the scream to Stephen’s door. She listened, and she heard him moan in pain. Evie tore open the door. Expecting to find him at the mercy of some other worldly evil, but there he was asleep in his bed. “Just nightmares” she thought. She turned to go. Then Stephen let out another cry of pain. She looked down at him, covered in sweat. He was in pain and she was a doctor. She leaned down and pressed one hand to his forehead. 

-POV change-

“Dormamu, I’ve come to bargain,” and then that familiar pain. His nerve endings ripping apart. Needles dipped in alcohol, piercing his skin. His body contracted. He begged for it to stop, but the pain did not care. Then it stopped, his body giving in. A second later, “Dormamu, I’ve come to bargain”. The method was sometimes different, but the pain was constant. 

He shot out upright. His mind adjusting to the reality that he was in his bed, and Dormamu only haunted him in his dreams. He opened his eyes and Evie sat next to him, her hair tossed in a messy braid, and a concerned look in her eye. 

“You had a nightmare” she said matter-of-factly. The lack of judgement in her voice made him sink against his headboard, his chest deflating as he went. 

“Dormamu.” Evie hadn’t asked, but he wanted her to know. She frowned.

“Dor… who?” Stephen smiled. How would she know who Dormamu was? That had been the point. 

“Dormamu,” he corrected. Stephen told her of his first adventure as a master sorcerer. As he finished Evie started laughing and his muscles tensed. Seeing Stephen face, her face softened. She stopped laughing and said “you defeated an all-powerful being by annoying it into giving up.” It had seemed like the best way to preserve as many lives as possible. She smiled down at him. Evie took his hand in hers. He pulled away on instinct, but she held on, running her thumb over one of his scars. It felt like an acceptance. 

-POV change-

The next morning felt like a walk of shame. They had done nothing shameful. Then why, when she slipped out of Stephen’s room did, it feel like the morning after a one-night stand. Why did last night feel more intimate than all the one-night stands she had? All she had done was hold his warm hands and run her thumb up and down the jagged edges of his scars. It was as if electricity had planted itself deep beneath her skin. 

She showered, changed, and went back to the library. She had found a spot deep in the library where she sat all day. Only the pain in her ribs for company. She half excepted Stephen to come find her. To talk about last night. But what was there to talk about? Nothing had happened. He either didn’t care enough to comment or it embarrassed him. Either way, she wouldn’t bring it up, and not just because even thought tightened the knot in her stomach. 

Around two in the afternoon, her super called. Something had survived the fire, and he wanted to know when she wanted to pick them up. 

“Why not go?” She thought. Stephen had warned her about going back to her apartment. But then an unbidden thought crawled into her mind “What if Stephen was wrong and it had just been a gas leak?” He had found cosmic… but what were the chances they were still there? Maybe they weren’t interested in Evie. What did she offer some greater cosmic being? In the grand scheme of things, she was a spec. 

She got up, stretched, and headed for the door. The summer afternoon air was sticky sweet. As if someone had just made a fresh batch of cotton candy. Evie walked down the street and with every new person she passed, she felt herself getting lighter.

The weight came crashing backdown when her old apartment came into view. It looked worse than it had right after the explosion. The building had stopped burning, all that remained was a charcoaled frame. There were all these people bustling by not paying it any mind. As if her world hadn’t exploded just a few days ago. Before she could cross the road, a hand closed around her shoulder. 

“You shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe.” Stephen was dressed again in normal clothing. Black t-shirt, blue jeans, and grey tennis shoes. However, the faux-pocket on his t-shirt was cloak colored. 

“Gandalf, do you see any danger right now?” Stephen pursed his lips but said nothing. His enamel blue eyes boring into her, turning her cheeks rosy. Evie turned her back on him and walked across the street.

Frank, her super, was a man ripped straight out of a Scorsese gangster movie. There were even rumors that he had inspired some of Scorsese’s work. But then the snap happened, and now Frank owned two side-by-side apartment buildings. Despite his reputation, Frank had always been kind to Evie. When she had turned up at his doorstep soaking wet with nothing but a backpack containing all her earthly belongings, he had asked no questions. He never asked questions. He had ushered her inside and given her a towel. His wife, Lorraine, had been the talker. She was the personal assistant to Peter’s principal. Lorraine was the one who had gotten Evie the job interview. Even helped Evie pick out clothes and do her makeup. Lorraine had been in the apartment when it had happened. According to Peter, who had ignored Evie’s strict instructions to not investigate, Frank hadn’t said a word since he found out Lorraine was dead. 

Frank held out the remains of her former life. It small flat metal box Peter had made for her out of Chitauri metal. She opened it and there were the photos. Peter was quite the photographer. He'd spent an entire summer building a darkroom from scratch. Tears pricked Evie’s eyes. Some photos Peter had taken. Then there were older pictures. A baby Peter was splashing around in the ocean for the first time. Kid Peter asleep with a battered copy of _Mechanical Engineering_ on his chest. Teenage Peter working on his first machine.

“Thanks, Frank…” Evie sniffled. She looked up, and a sharp pain penetrated her skull and her world went black. 

-POV change-

Stephen Strange’s head was pounding. When he opened his eyes, and the pain got more intense. He was kneeling on a grimy white padded floor. Only a door broke up the monotony. They'd cuffed his hands to a ring mounted on the wall. Try as he might Stephen couldn’t reach his sling ring. They just had to survive whatever hell scape this was. His mind jack rabbiting through millions of ways to get them out of this alive. He’d been watching Evie, and then his world had gone dark. He looked down and shifted. Someone had gotten the drop on him, the Sorcerer Supreme. He should have forced Evie back to the Sanctum. 

“Evie…” he thought. His pulse quickened, eyes darting around the room. She was lying on a bed on the opposite side of the room. The bed sheets were stained with what looked like decades of bodily fluids. Only one of her hands cuffed to the metal headboard of a bed. As if she could hear him thinking about her, Evie stirred and sat up. Her eyes widened as she took in the nightmare she was in. Evie yanked her shaking wrist away from the headboard, but to no avail. When it was clear, the headboard wouldn’t give. Her breath grew ragged and her entire body shook. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself as best she could.

Without looking at him and in a breaking voice she said, “alright Gandalf, magic us out of this.” 

“I need my sling ring” he said. He knew she did not understand what a sling ring was, and yet again she didn’t ask. As if someone had come and drained all the curiosity out of her.

Her head sagged to her knees. Evie asked, “What are our chances of survival?” 

“I don’t know.” Stephen knew he could get them out of this. He just didn’t know how yet. His eyes carefully scanned the room. There were no wards or magical enchantments of any kind. It was just a padded room. He could tell that the closed door wasn’t locked. What was powerful enough to sneak up on him, but dumb enough not to lock the door? 

Stephen heard Evie take another shuddering breath. Then a crack, and Evie screamed. He looked over and stiffened. Evie was free of the cuffs and had broken her wrist to do it. She looked at him and gave him a watery smile. 

Before she could say anything the door burst open and a guard came tumbling in. He looked barely old enough to drink. His first mustache sprouting on his upper lip. Stephen’s eyes went wide when he saw Evie slice her uninjured hand over the palm of the other, and he heard the guard’s ribs snap. The guard whimpered, but put a hand on his gun.

“Please, don’t” she pleaded with the scared boy. Evie’s voice trembled, but her hands were steady. The guard unclipped his gun, but before he could raise it he dropped to the ground, dead. His eyes vacant in horrible surprise. Stephen saw Evie shake out her uninjured hand. His mind reeled. How was this possible? She had shown no interest or aptitude for magic. As if she could hear the churning in his head, she said, 

“Shut up. We need to get out of here.” Her voice was shrill. Evie ran a now quivering hand through her hair. 

Evie hurried over and stood close to him. Cheeks flushed, eyes crackling with energy, heart rabbiting in her chest. If he leaned down now, they’d be kissing. 

“I am sorry,” Evie whispered, but before he could ask why. Pain exploded in his wrist. She had broken his wrist too. As gingerly as she could she slid the shackle over his injured wrist. Cottoning on, Stephen pulled himself free. He conjured a portal back to the Sanctum, and they both stumbled through and into his office. 

-POV change-

Evie straightened and looked at Stephen. He looked good, ever so slightly rumpled. She felt her cheeks heat. Every time she used her powers it left her feeling invigorating, causing other people's pain made her feel stronger, healthier. Underneath all that vigor was a sliver of guilt, boring itself into her consciousness. Stephen strode over to one of his desk and opened the center drawer. Evie followed him, plopping herself down on the same plushy chair she had previously occupied. He pulled out an Altoids tin, opening it, scooped out a bit of ointment and rubbed over his wrist. After a few seconds, Stephen shook out his wrist. As if he hadn’t broken it.

“Give me your wrist,” his detached tone back in its rightful place. Ointment that could heal broken bones, that she had to feel for herself. 

Evie eagerly held out her wrist. A hot flash of pain cut through her wrist, but she held steady. Stephen leaned over the table and took her wrist as gentle as he could. Then he took a fingertip full of ointment and rubbed it over her wrist. Her skin warmed in the places his fingers had touched her wrist. She could feel the bone fuse back together as if it had never broken. She looked up at him, but her excitement about the ointment died on her tongue. He was looking at her, assessing her. She drew back, sat back down and folded her arms across her stomach. He sat down too, leaning in to inspect. As if he was a scientist examining his newest find. His eyes gleamed with all the questions she knew must burn a hole in his stomach. She knew she couldn’t outrun his questions.

“I keep a list of I keep a watch list of individuals and beings may be a threat to our world. I need to know everything about your power.” An angry snake coiled in her stomach, and a hot flush rushed to her cheeks. He cut around her outburst by adding, “You just killed a man.” This was what she had been afraid of, being labeled a threat. They would say that she wasn’t a fit to be a teacher or care for Peter. Evie couldn’t quite keep that fear out of her voice when she said. 

“You’re not entitled to that information.” He gave her a look that seemed to say “try me Beyonce”. Evie knew she couldn’t take him. There was no point in fighting. He would win, so better retreat. Evie got up. 

“Either you give me the information or I take it from you.” His voice a rusty knife. Her body tensed, but she sat back down. Evie felt trapped. She tried to blame him for putting her through this, but there again was that undercurrent of honesty in his voice. It wasn’t just curious, or worse prying for the sake of prying. He needed to know. Stephen let a few minutes of silence go by. 

“How do you work?” Indignation flared in her stomach. 

“You want another demonstration?” Her voice a knife point. The flames must have shown on her face, because he immediately changed tack. 

“What can you do?” He said this time in a gentler tone. 

“I can rip your muscles, crush your windpipe, explode your heart in your chest, lower your pulse so you dropped into a coma.” He was watching her.

“You manipulate the body on a molecular level.” She hadn’t thought of it that way, but sure. He was silent for a moment. 

“Have you ever used your powers on me?” Evie froze. His disinterested tone didn’t fully hide the fact that this was the question he had wanted to ask most of all.She hadn’t excepted that question, but she couldn’t say it surprised her. It made her feel uneasy. She looked down at her hands. 

“Twice.”

“When?” he asked his voice tightened 

“I touched your shoulder right before I used the cloak. I relaxed your muscles.” He had been tense, and she just wanted to give him some relief. She looked up at him. He didn’t look angry, just interested. “The second time was when you had that nightmare…”

“You released cortisol…”

“I woke you up.” 


	5. Arches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter for all of you! Sorry, this one is a little short but otherwise the next chapter wouldn't work. 
> 
> Comments are loved and appreciated.

It surprised Evie how accepting Stephen was of her powers. She could break his neck with ever touching him and he hadn’t tried to kill her. 

When Evie first discovered what she could do, she’d promised herself to never use it on anyone again. She didn’t want to think about her powers, she just wanted her life back. It hadn’t been perfect; the pay was bad, teaching didn’t fill the gap left by the OR rush, but it had been a good life. 

She’d worried about Peter and his Spiderman duties, but Tony Stark would protect him. But now the Iron Man legacy resting on the shoulders of a sixteen-year-old kid. Evie had met Tony Stark only once. He had come to her doorstep, apologizing for getting Peter killed. Evie shut the door in his face. Why did she have to forgive Tony Stark? 

Evie knew that Stephen wanted to discuss her powers more, maybe even recruit her. She thanked her lucky stars that the next day the Sanctum Sanctorum filled with Kamar-Taj recruits. Stephen only had time to tell her that Frank was ok and that she was under no circumstance to leave the Sanctum. Wong later told her that when Stephen had become Sorcerer Supreme, he instituted a rotation system where all the students spent time in all three Sanctums learning the ins and outs of each. She’d rolled her eyes, Stephen had invented the medical clerkship for magic. The recruits flooded every part of the Sanctum, so Evie kept to her room. She didn’t want to fall further into this world, but over the next couple of days, try as she might, she overheard snippets of conversation that painted an interesting picture. Stephen’s students were in awe of him. They also thought he was an uptight asshole who was too harsh and drove them too hard. Evie didn’t blame them. 

Three days after their escape from that horrible cell as Evie was settling into her covers with her latest find Understanding the Mystical Pools of Galupse. She heard a knock on the door. 

“Come in” she called. Wong had been thoughtful enough to portal her the books she wanted right in front of her door. 

“This is where you’ve been hiding.” Evie’s breath caught. Not Wong. She turned around to see Stephen. He looked good for a man who’d spent the last three days training almost thirty recruits. Rings bloomed under his eyes and he holding himself a little stiffly, but he still looked good. 

“How is teaching going?” She put her book down next to her. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. 

“I do not understand how you do it.”

“It helps when the parents are a phone call away.” She patted the spot next to her on the bed and without hesitation, he sat down next to her. Evie’s cheeks heated when she realized that all she was wearing was an old Columbia University sweatshirt and workout shorts. Stephen didn’t seem to notice. He just leaned his head against her headboard and closed his eyes.

“After the battle for the Earth, I want to make sure we have enough sorcerers.” Evie felt for him but she had to make her intentions clear.

“If this is a recruiting drive, I am not interested.” He gave her a sideways look and smiled. The dim lights from the lamps illuminating his glass blue eyes. 

“It’s impossible for you to do magic. Your power binds your soul to your body.”

“That’s why I couldn’t astral project.” 

“You’ve been reading.”

“Not much else to do around here.” Then she asked a question that’d been haunting her ever since the shock of Peter coming home worn off. “How likely is another Thanos?” 

“That’s the problem. I don’t know. All I know is that we need to be ready.” Evie realized that Stephen was scared. Not that he would ever admit it, but he was. Thanos left many people with monsters under their bed.

“Whenever this new threat comes, I need you to promise me you’ll keep Peter safe.” 

“Earth has to be my…” She knew it was unfair to ask this of him, but she couldn’t help herself. She would give the world to keep Peter safe. It didn’t matter how many people got hurt. 

“Promise me you’ll keep Peter safe.” He didn’t respond. It was all she could hope for. Evie looked down at his shaking hands, resting on his lap. She reached down and started tracing the bones in his hand. Running her finger over each of his scars. Stephen’s hands shook worse, but Evie kept going. 

“How many?” She asked softly. 

“11 pins.” His voice barely above a whisper. Tracing the same lines over and over. She could feel the steady thump of his heart beneath her fingertips. He felt alive. 

“Surely with magic…” She looked up and him. The pain in his face was clear. With nerve damage this extensive, it was a miracle that he could even hold a stethoscope, much less use it. She doubted he could even sign his own name without magic. 

“I would have to give up being Sorcerer Supreme. The amount of magic it takes to keep my hands steady.” They’d both chose to step away from medicine. Every day he was Sorcerer Supreme. After a few more minutes of running her fingers over his hands. She picked up the book she had discarded on the nightstand and said, “This book claims that if you lay down right you can see faint traces of the mists rising from pools of Galupse”

“You can,” Stephen said, his voice hoarse. He reached across Evie and grabbed her second pillow and placed it on his lap. “Lay down and let me show you.” Evie raised an eyebrow. Stephen held up his hands “only if you want to”. She gave him a sly smile and lay her head down on the pillow. With a quick arm movement, a glowing circle of sparking orange light appeared above them and she could see the night sky as if she was standing on the roof of the Sanctum. She looked up at Stephen, who looked down at her with a sympathetic smile with only a hint of arrogance. He spent the next couple of hours pointing out various celestial bodies and what they meant for the greater universe. Evie had never given much stock to the night sky, but Stephen’s voice was slow piano music in her ear it became alight with new meaning. 

The few times she encountered the recruits, they fell silent and either ignored her or stared at her with worrying curiosity. Evie tried not to think about what they might think of her. Maybe they thought she was some dangerous being contained within these walls or some helpless victim of a force she was too simple to understand.

Two nights later Evie was walking walked back from the library, her nose in a book. When Evie looked up, she was in a place she didn’t recognize. She was standing in the middle of a large rotunda, soft grey moonlight filtering through a carved skylight. Ornate wall lamps giving off a dim glow. In front of Evie, there were three floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Rather than looking onto Bleecker Street at night, all three of them showed different places. The one on the left showed a beautiful forest, on the right a snow-capped mountain, and the middle window looked out over a stormy sea. Each of the windows had a corresponding bronze dial with carvings in a language that Evie didn’t know. She moved to touch the one in the middle, but a voice rang out behind her.

“What are you doing?” Evie’s body shot to attention. She turned around, horrified. Stephen was standing behind her with a severe look on his face. The second he recognized her, his features relaxed.

“Oh, it’s you.” The indifference in his voice chipping away at something deep inside Evie’s stomach. Evie’s eyes blinked. She wanted to punch Stephen. He’d trapped her in this old musty building. Forced her to put her life on hold, only to treat her with such indifference. Without another word, he strode past her to the windows. 

“They all lead to a different point on earth.” He pointed to the forest “Olympic National Forest”, then to the mountain “Mount Fuji, and this is…” he opened the middle window and Evie recoiled as the salt spray whipped her hair around her face. She went and stood next to Stephen. Her nose was filled with the smell of burning wires and plastic. The sea locked in an eternal battle with the sky. The wind throwing the ocean’s waves this way and that. She turned to Stephen to find him looking at her again. Not analytically this time, just curious. As if Evie had just performed a magic trick and he wanted to figure out just how she’d managed it. 

Evie turned her face back to the ocean. “What?” she asked, the leftover hurt still etched into her tone. 

“Why didn’t you ask me to train you?” Evie raised her eyebrows. He continued, “when I came to Kamar-Taj I begged the Ancient One to teach me. I waited day and night at her door until she let me in,”. 

“Someone didn’t want the great Stephen Strange? Don’t they know you invented a laminectomy procedure?” He started chuckling but cut off. 

“How do you know I invented a laminectomy procedure?” Shit. 

“I saw your CNN interview.” She lied, hopefully covering up some damage. Truth was, his procedure had set the medical world abuzz with talk of the great Stephen Strange and it had never stopped, even after the accident. Evie wasn’t sure why she didn’t tell him she had been a doctor. It wasn’t a secret. Everyone in her life knew. Evie didn’t talk about it much, but she didn’t lie about it either. They had worked in the same hospital for years. Maybe she wanted him to remember her on his own. 

“People who seek magic are also seeking power. You wanted power over your hands.” She looked down at her own hands “I have power and I hate it.” 

“We’d be dead without it.” 

“You don’t know that. We have no idea who they are and what they wanted from us. My powers don’t let me save people. They just allow me to hurt them.” Stephen looked like he was about to say something, but at the last second, he thought better of it.

To keep the blush off her face she asked “tell me about your family.” His eyes clouded over, but Evie didn’t apologize. It felt cheap.

“When I was young, my sister died. She was swimming in a lake and one day and her leg cramped. When I got there I tried to save her but...” Evie could see a young Stephen trying his best to revive his dead sister. 

“What was her name?”

“Donna, Donatella. My parents loved opera.” His voice was soft with melancholy. 

“It’s a beautiful name,” she said. “When we were little, Dick used to take us to an abandoned scrap yard. There was this broken down cargo plane, and we used to pretend we were fighter pilots.” He didn’t respond, and Evie was glad for it. Neither of them could bring their families back. A moment passed where all they could hear was the battle roar of the wind and the sound of the waves impaling themselves on the rocky cliffs. Stephen straightened and said, “Come with me.” His voice was clinical but streaked with excitement. She followed him, leaving the battling elements behind her.

As they walked down the corridor Stephen started peppering her with questions. 

“Where did you go to college?” Careful Evie, she thought. 

“Columbia.” 

“Why didn’t you become a doctor?” Her stomach dropped. If there was ever a time to come clean, but the knot in Evie’s chest prevented the words from coming out. She looked at him.

“Because the tooth fairy didn’t leave a two hundred grand under my pillow.” True enough, she supposed. Her parents had just died. Dick was working for SHIELD, and May had been backpacking through Europe. But Evie had done it, anyway. They rounded a corner and stood in front of a dark oak door. Stephen looked back at her and gave her a wink, before pushing open the doors. Evie’s mouth dropped open. The room was much larger than it had any right to be. High ceilings, no windows, and all around the room were large displays housing a wide variety. There was a silver staff topped with an emerald the size of her fist, ruby-encrusted chest, a pair of wooden cufflinks. 

“These are some of the most powerful items in the universe,” Stephen said. Her eyes had caught on a plain stone arch at the back of the room, somehow leading to nowhere. 

“What’s that?” 

“The Arch of Alnnon. It leads to a pocket dimension.” Evie’s eyes widened, wonder blooming in her chest. One more peek into Stephen’s world wouldn’t hurt. Stephen walked over to the arch and gestured her inside. Nothing changed as she has passed through the arch. The displays were still in the same place, but the air around her felt different. As if they were one step removed from reality. 

“This pocket dimension mirrors the whole Sanctum. It also allows…” Stephen waved his hand, and a man clad in black materialized robes started running towards her. He pulled a jagged dagger from his belt. Evie staggered backward, her back hitting the wall. Her stomach went cold. This was it. She was going to die. The man brandished his dagger. She looked over at Stephen, but he just stood there, impassive as ever. Did he not see that this man was going to kill her? 

“Help me.” She screamed.

“Defend yourself.” He instructed, his voice sandpaper upon stone. Evie understood. She sensed the man’s blood vessels and muscles. His heart beating in his chest. Oh, so very alive. She closed her fist, and the man faltered, his blade inches from her stomach. Evie couldn’t do it, squeeze her fist. Evie’s hand stilled, and she released the stranglehold she had on his heart. As she did, a burning cold sensation pierced her stomach. As if someone was ramming a stake of dry ice into her. The world went black. Seconds later Evie’s world exploded in color and her lungs clawed for breath. She opened her eyes, and she was again standing on the other side of the arch. 

“What the hell was that?” Evie gasped, her heart galloping in her chest. She looked over at Stephen, who was surveying her again. Again, a slide on a microscope. 

“Training, and you failed. If I hadn’t experienced your powers myself I’d think you were lying.” He had been testing her. Vibrant anger exploded inside her chest.

“You had no right.” 

“It’s a training dimension,” as if that made it any better. 

“I don’t need training. I need my life back.” 

“People with your abilities don’t get to live normal lives.” 

“What would you have me do? Put on Avengers’ tights and fight crime. I’m a teacher.” 

“You’re a threat with no training.” 

Evie didn’t respond, she just whipped around and started running. When she reached them she wrenched open the Sanctum doors and rushed outsides. She had to squint as the neon lights of the movie theater replace the dim lights of the Sanctum. Wind and rain lashed at her face. As soon as Evie reached the edge of the sidewalk, a car came hurtling past her, drenching her in puddle water. She tried to take another step, but an invisible wall blocked her path. She turned around. Stephen was standing in the doorway, the faint orange glow of a spell illuminating his sharp feature. Hot, angry tears started running down her cheeks, mixing with rain and the puddle water.

“Come back inside,” he said with forced patience in his voice as if she a child that wouldn’t eat her peas. 

“I’m going to…” His words cut through hers, a knife through butter on a hot summer’s day. 

“You’d be putting everyone in your vicinity at risk.” The truth of his statement stopped Evie in her tracks. She walked back towards him. 

“Thank you,” the earnestness with which he said it made her want to choke him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the arch is just the dream state from Inception. The arch's name is Nolan scrambled. No one ever accused me of originality.


End file.
